


Be Careful of That One

by kallistob, QED_Scribblings



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, First Dates, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kid!Tina, Light BDSM, M/M, Punk!Theseus, SO MUCH FLUFF, Slow Burn, Teacher!Percival, kid!Newt, mentions of past domestic abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-07 03:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12832032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallistob/pseuds/kallistob, https://archiveofourown.org/users/QED_Scribblings/pseuds/QED_Scribblings
Summary: “Excuse me?”Theseus takes his time, throwing his cigarette down and stomping on it before he turns around to face whoever called him. He smiles gently, knowing all too well how off-putting his appearance can be - especially for the stuck-up teachers of this private school Newt goes to.One of them stands in front of him right now. Theseus does a double take, a small sound of surprise escaping his mouth.Gleaming shoes, tight pants, a waistcoat highlighting the man’s narrow waist and broad shoulders. Five o’clock shadow on his jaw. Keen dark eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses framed with gold. The teacher smiles back, and Theseus finally meets his eyes.His heart immediately skips a beat.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kallistob : HULLO (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ we hold this AU close to our hearts with Qed. it's full of healing and love, and we hope you'll love it as much as we enjoy talking about it and making it come to life. Qed wrote the second chapter all by herself, so big kudos to her. We have ideas of where this could lead to, and we hope you enjoy the ride :)

                           

“Excuse me?”

Theseus takes his time, throwing his cigarette down and stomping on it before he turns around to face whoever called him. He smiles gently, knowing all too well how off-putting his appearance can be - especially for the stuck-up teachers of this private school Newt goes to.

One of them stands in front of him right now. Theseus does a double take, a small sound of surprise escaping his mouth.

Gleaming shoes, tight pants, a waistcoat highlighting the man’s narrow waist and broad shoulders. Five o’clock shadow on his jaw. Keen dark eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses framed with gold. The teacher smiles back, and Theseus finally meets his eyes.

His heart immediately skips a beat. He feels hot then cold, attraction making itself known in every fiber of his being. The man looks as surprised as Theseus at the feeling - and then, he is bashful. He ducks his head and crosses his arms over his chest. He clears his throat.

Theseus isn’t sure how his voice is supposed to be working anymore.

“Y - yeah?” He finally manages to say. He balls his hands into fists, hoping his blush isn’t as noticeable as he feels it is.

The teacher doesn’t seem to know where to start. He bites his lips as he looks up at Theseus, and Theseus swallows audibly. Fuck.

“You’re, hum. You’ve been scaring the students,” the teacher states, smiling. “They’re wondering if you’re, and I quote, ‘a bad man’. The headmistress made me come down to ask you to leave.”

Theseus sighs. He’d somehow expected this. “Look, sir -”

“Percival.”

“Percival. Class ends in, what, twenty minutes? I’m just here to fetch my little brother. Newton Scamander.”

“Oh!” Percival’s face lights up. “You’re the brother? He thinks very highly of you. I should have recognized you in the drawings of his family. There’s always someone hovering in the background, wearing black.”

“Yeah.” Theseus rubs the back of his head with one hand, embarrassed. “That would be me. You’re Mr. Graves, then?”

“Yes.”

“Well.” Theseus holds his hand out, remembering his manners. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. You seem like a great teacher - better than the ones I’ve had, if Newt’s enthusiasm is anything to go by.”

Percival seems genuinely happy at hearing that. Theseus just barely remembers to breathe in front of his smile. Percival’s hand is warm in his as he shakes it. Warm and big. “He is brilliant. Usually his mom comes to fetch him, right?”

“Yeah. She couldn’t make it. I don’t mind doing it, though.”

“Right.”

Silence falls again. Percival has moved his hands to his pockets, and their eyes meet again. Theseus feels warm all over; his heart is beating faster. This is ridiculous. This is the first time he has been so attracted to someone in his life.

“Say -”

“Would you -”

“Sorry. Go on.”

Percival chuckles. “I was going to say, would you agree to have coffee with me?”

Theseus gawks. He swears his heart does a double flip before breaking into a victory dance. “I’m - I, hum, I - it’s - I’m –”

Percival holds his hands up, looking worried. “I’m sorry, it’s just - you feel it too, right?”

Yeah. “Yeah, I fucking do.”

Percival smiles again, relieved. “Then let’s meet up. I need to get to class now, but - here.” The man reaches inside his waistcoat pocket, and Theseus suppresses a groan. Of course the man keeps business cards on him all the time. What the hell. “My number. Text me anytime. God willing, I’d really love to see you again.”

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

“I - I will. Call you. Yes.”

“Good. Have a good day, Mr. Scamander.”

“You too,” Theseus replies weakly. “And it’s Theseus.”

“Theseus?”

“Scamander. Theseus Scamander. That’s my name.”

“Oh. It’s a lovely name.” Percival winks at him as he says it, and damn it, it shouldn’t make Theseus feel as flustered as a schoolgirl with a crush. He’s faced down men twice his size. What the fuck is this. “I hope to see you soon.”

The teacher turns around and trots back to his classes, hands still in his pockets.

 

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

                                             

“Not a fan, kiddo?” asked Theseus Scamander as he made his way through the empty studio of Lionheart Ink - collecting rubbish as he went and dropping it into the bag in his hands.

Newt looked up from his work (or rather, what he was working on - as the sketches covering the pages of his notebook did not exactly look like mathematics to Theseus) with a confused frown on his face. Only when his brother pointed straight to it did he notice the muffin sitting abandoned by his elbow.

“Oh,” he said, blinking. “I forgot.”

Theseus hummed, a teasing grin tugging at his lips.

“Got wrapped up in your homework, did you?” he drawled, his scarred and pierced brow quirking upwards skeptically.

Newt paused for a moment, before carefully closing his book to hide the evidence of his distraction, even folding his hands neatly on top of it once he did.

“Yes. That’s right,” he replied, blinking innocently, wincing when his brother responded by letting out a loud bark of laughter.

“You little con artist,” he chuckled, ruffling the boy’s hair fondly before nodding to the muffin. “Eat up though. Dinner’s still an hour or so off, at least.”

“Sorry Thes,” Newt mumbled, blushing bashfully as he picked up the remains of his afternoon tea and obediently nibbled at it.

Theseus smiled fondly before spinning the book around and flicking through it, curious to see what his brother had been up to while he’d been finishing off _‘the back-piece that just wouldn’t end™ '_.

“Is it finally going to happen?” he asked, voiced hushed and dramatic as he thumbed through the pages (enough so to inspire eye-rolling from Newt). “Will today be the day where little Newt has whiled away the afternoon drawing cocks over his maths homework-”

_“EW!”_

Theseus snickered.

“I guess not,” he smirked before finally finding his brother’s latest sketches and letting out a low whistle.

“These are good, Kiddo,” he said, glancing over to his brother and smiling when he spotted a light blush spreading across his freckled cheeks. “What you going to call them?”

Newt hummed, a thoughtful frown briefly creasing his brows before he slowly replied, “I think… _hippogriffs_.”

Theseus smiled and nodded back firmly.

“A badarse name for a badarse bird,” he replied, ruffling the boy’s hair once more, before taking the empty paket his muffin had come in and dropping it in his rubbish bag, which he then tied off and left by the door.

“Well it’s a horse too,” Newt pointed out as he carefully brushed the crumbs off his hands into the bin by his side.

“It can fly though - makes it more bird than horse, doesn’t it?” Theseus called as he quickly set about shutting down the studio for the night. “We’re about to head off though, mate. Start packing up, yeah?”

“Alright,” Newt chirped, adding one or two final touches to the drawing before doing as he was told. “I still don’t think it’s a bird though. I mean - I don’t think it would lay eggs. And if it doesn’t lay eggs it can’t be a bird - it would be a mammal, like a horse.”

“Ugh, Newt, come on mate!” Theseus groaned. “I don’t want to think about that.”

“Birth is a natural part of life,” Newt retorted tartly, hopping off his chair from behind the front desk.

“Yeah? Well so is diarrhea,” Theseus retorted as he walked back to the door, grabbing the rubbish bag sitting by it and holding it open for his brother, who snickered as he walked past. “Doesn’t mean I wanna think about a horse doing it.”

“You’re silly,” Newt declared, as he pulled on his bright blue coat and scarf.

Theseus scoffed and, once he’d flicked off the lights and grabbed his own bag, shut the door behind him and tossed the rubbish bag into the skip that was tucked away to the side of the shop.

“And you’re a cheeky little mite who ought to respect their elders,” he playfully growled, before sweeping his brother up into his arms - startling a shriek of laughter from him. “Sounds like I gotta teach you some manners.”

“Oh no!” Newt cried.

“Oh yes!” Theseus called over him as his fingers slipped deftly to the crook of his brother’s scrawny neck, wiggling in a way that drew peels of breathless laughter from the boy. “Not so smart now are you, you little demon?!”

_“Nohoho!”_

“Do you yield?!”

_“I YIELD! I YIELD!”_

“Damn straight you do,” Theseus smirked, though he did pull his hand away regardless.

Patting his brother’s flushed cheek, with a triumphant smirk spread across his face, he drawled, “And that’s why I’m the big brother and you’re the _baby_ brother.”

“It is not.”

“You asking for anoth-”

“No!”

“Thought not,” Theseus scoffed, before setting Newt back down on the ground and ruffling his hair once more. “Come on, we’re gonna miss our train.”

                

“Hey, _Noodle-Box._ ”

“I’m going to ignore you if you keep calling me that,” Newt sniffed, his eyes still fixed on the youtube video he was watching on his school tablet.

“Touchy,” Theseus scoffed, an amused grin tugging at his lips as he stretched out across both his seat and the one beside it.

They’d missed rush-hour - so the train was empty enough for he and Newt to nab a couple of rows for themselves and get comfortable.  And yet Theseus found he couldn’t relax properly - not with thoughts of certain unfairly attractive school teachers whirling about in his head, and a fancy business card burning a hole in his pocket.

Never one for waiting, he decided to press the only source of information that he had at his disposal.

“Newt,” he whined, flopping his arm over the back of his seat, deliberately dropping his hand on top of the tablet’s screen. “ _Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew_ -”

“What?!”

“So rude-”

“I’m sitting somewhere else,” Newt huffed, grabbing his things and scooting out from his seat.

“Naaaw, come on _Nootles_ \- I need you.”

At that, his brother paused, turning slowly to eye him with obvious distrust - but an equal amount of curiousity too.

“What for?” he asked warily.

With a wide grin spreading across his face, Theseus drew his legs up, patting the seat beside his for his brother to sit down - which he did (with no small amount of wariness). A perfectly legitimate wariness Theseus would grant him - but he justified promptly dropping his legs back down on top of Newt’s scrawny ones, pinning him in place, as an equally legit necessity. He needed information, after all, and couldn’t have the little menace running off without coughing some up first.

That and Newt’s frustrated whining at being tricked and trapped was both hilarious and adorable.

“Quit your winging - I’ve got questions.”

“Is this revenge for the Hippogriff pregnancy image?”

“Bloody ought to be. But no,” Theseus said. “ _Mr Graves_ \- spill your guts. What’s he like?”

Newt stilled, eyeing him dubiously once again.

“Why?”

“Professional curiosity.”

“ _Professional_ -” his eyes blew wide. “Does he want a tattoo? _What_ ? **_Where_ **?”

“I’ll be asking the questions here, Buster,” Theseus retorted.

Newt’s eyes narrowed slightly as he eyed him some more, before groaning loudly.

“Oh no,” he sighed. “You _like_ him, don’t you?”

“I’ve not decided yet,” Theseus replied with a smirk, before asking with a fraction more seriousness, “Would it be a bad thing if I did? Is he alright to you? Would kids take the piss out of you?”

“Kids already _take the piss out of me_ ,” Newt said simply.

“I thought Tina punching them in the nose was helping with that,” Theseus replied with a frown, though it faded pretty quickly when Newt promptly went bright pink and started to fuss with his scarf.

“It is a bit,” he conceded.

“You asked her out yet-?”

“ _We’re not talking about me!_ ” Newt cried shrilly, covering his face, which was getting redder by the second.

Theseus laughed fondly and patted his back.

“Alright alright, we’re not talking about you,” he chuckled. “Let’s focus on me. So, Mr Graves - tell me what you know. Would it be an issue if I was interested in him? Cos if it is, you just say so and it’s done - finished. Won’t do nothing about it.”

Considerably more pink in the face than he had been before, Newt shook his head.

“No. I don’t think it would really be bad. Mr Graves is nice. He doesn’t get cross at me for silly things. He doesn’t say I have my head in the clouds like Mr Dippet does sometimes. He’s not weird around Queenie like Mr Abernathy is. He stood up for me when Mr Fawley was getting cross because I was _being shifty_.”

Theseus’ bristled at the reminder of that particular incident, and subsequently of all the others that had occurred throughout the history teacher’s crusade to make his brother _a man_. This apparently involved a lot of standing up straight and looking people in the eye - both qualities that Newt sometimes struggled with, which in turn seemed to have lead Fawley to suspect him of all sorts of miscreant behaviour.

“Has he been bothering you again?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest.

“No, Theseus,” Newt droned, heaving a long suffering sigh that Theseus pointedly ignored.

“Cos I will puncture his tyres if he is.”

“I know.”

“At the very least. Should have after last time.”

“Theseus.”

“Smug son of a-”

“ _Anyway_ \- Mr Graves.”

Theseus poked Newt’s shoulder at the obvious change of conversation - but grudgingly allowed it regardless. He couldn’t puncture the gits tyres right that moment after all.

“Right,” he said instead. “So he’s a good sort?”

“I think so,” Newt replied, before glowering himself. “Better than Leta’s cousin.”

“Down boy,” Theseus chuckled. “Big brother can handle himself just fine. And I can certainly take care of slimy little bellends like Hadrian Lestrange.”

“You shouldn’t have to _take care of yourself_ with your boyfriend,” Newt grumbled all the same, before shooting Theseus a pained look. “He _hit_ you, Thes.”

Theseus sighed softly, shifting so he was sitting properly on the seat at last before wrapping an arm around his brother’s narrow shoulders and pulling him a little more firmly to his side.

“I know, kiddo. I know. You don’t gotta worry about that ever again,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I promise.”

Newt hummed quietly, snuggling a little closer as he did.

“You should go out with someone nice. Someone good, who’ll not be mean, and won’t listen to you when you say you’re fine and you’re not.”

Theseus blinked, before letting out a startled, if somewhat weak laugh.

“Blimey Newt,” he uttered. “No need to lay me bare like that right in the middle of the bloody tube.”

Newt, however, was not listening. Instead he nodded.  

“Mr. Graves could be that,” he said at last. “You have my blessing.”

Theseus scoffed, his brows shooting up at the declaration.

 _“_ Your _blessing?_

“Isn’t that what you were really asking for?” Newt asked as he pulled his tablet back out of his bag.

“Ah… _no_ ,” Theseus replied. “I was milking you for information.”

“So if I said he is awful and I’d hate you forever and ever if you dated him - you’d have still done it?”

“No, course not,” Theseus replied immediately.

Newt nodded.

“Then you were asking for my blessing - whether you knew so or not,” he replied simply, before offering an earbud. “Want to watch?”

Theseus eyed him incredulously for a long moment, before clicking his tongue and taking the bud.

“You’re a cheeky little- _AH!_ FUCK MAN!”

“Swear Jar”

“Newt!”

“It’s Vet Ranch. It’s educational.”

“You’re killing me here, kiddo.”

                

 

Cracking open a can of beer, Theseus leaned back against the kitchen counter and let out a deep breath.

He’d gotten Newt working on his maths again. Properly this time. His plan was to give him 10 minutes to get stuck in unsupervised before checking that he hadn’t gone and gotten distracted from his fractions by one of the dogs… or the cats… or the rats… or the hedgehog.

He took another swig of his drink and despaired over his home’s continued evolution from ‘ _dodgy flat_ ’ to full-blown ‘ _animal shelter’_ before turning his mind to new ordeals. Namely the fascinating predicament that the enigmatic Mr Graves presented to him.

_‘You feel it too?’_

Damn right he did. But it wasn’t a sort of feeling he’d experienced for a while now.

The thrill of lust, he knew that one. But with this guy, _Mr Graves_ , there was something else there (other than the lust, which was definitely there also ( _of course_. He wasn’t blind!).

He was curious, _eager_ even, to see where all of it could lead - there was no denying it. And yet something was stopping him from acting upon it. A couple of years back he’d not have thought twice before making a move. More likely than not he’d have texted the man before he could get his cute little arse back into the classroom.

But, things were different now. There were other factors that he had to keep in mind - factors that he’d been reminded of just that evening.

It wasn’t just him anymore, after all. Before, a dodgy relationship was just something he had had to bounce back from on his own. And he could do that well enough, given enough time and booze. But now Newt was there to watch all of it, blow by blow. And if the conversation they’d had on the train had impressed anything upon Theseus is was that Newt _was_ watching all of it and his bad choices were affecting him.

Not only was he, Theseus, providing the worst possible example for the poor kid (and where that road could lead was genuinely one of the few things in the world that truly terrified him) but he was _scaring_ him to.  Newt, with his heart that was just far too big for the world, was genuinely _afraid_ for him, and at the end of the day that was entirely on Theseus.

SIghing deeply, he ran a hand through his hair and, not for the first time that evening,  contemplated just dumping Graves’ business card  in the bin right that second. It was the sensible thing to do, surely - with his track record.

And yet when he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the card in question - he found himself just as reluctant to discard it as he was to text the number printed upon it.

The guy had seemed alright, after all. He was a teacher for fuck sake. And it wasn’t like he could just avoid relationships for 7 plus years because of Newt. The kid hadn’t even asked him to do that. He’d given his damn blessing to this bullshit.

And… this could lead to something good.

He heaved a deep sigh.

He was being selfish.

But there _had_ been a spark there, hadn’t there? He didn’t even necessarily believe in ‘ _sparks’,_ but he’d felt one that afternoon. And he’d not been able to stop thinking about the bastard and his stupid handsome face and his voice and smile since then.

But what if they’d been different sparks? What if Graves was just interested in a physical relationship?  
That probably wouldn’t be too bad actually - but he was Newt’s teacher and that could get messy. Also, well, he was pretty sure he’d felt a bit more than that. He wanted, _for some reason_ , a bit more than just sex this time around.

Mother of god... he was maturing!

Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he scrubbed roughly at his face and let out a soft, frustrated groan.

What to do. What to do.

_“Would you agree to have coffee with me?”_

...Ah - fuck it.

Tugging his phone out of his pocket before he could think better about it, he punched in the number on Graves’ card and decided to address his concerns the way he always did - head on.

_Look, i’m just gonna be blunt, yeah? What do you want out of all of this_

He sighed deeply, grimacing as he read the message through. But for the life of him he couldn’t think of another way of putting it.

Running a hand through his hair he hit the send button and put the mobile down on the counter. If this scared the posh git off then it was never going to work out anyway-

His phone buzzed, cutting his rueful musings off mid-flow.

Blinking he turned around, propping his elbows on the counter as he tapped his phone back to life and read Graves’ reply.

What he found had his brows shooting skywards.

 _Sex or something more you mean?_ Was the man’s equally as blunt response. He’d not have picked it from looking at him, with his tailored clothing and his ‘not a hair out of place’ appearance. Interesting.

All at once the intrigue and attraction from earlier came flooding back, reminding him why he’d entertained the thought of asking the guy out in the first place.

 _Yeah pretty much -_ he replied, taking another sip of his beer as he sent it off.

 _Fair enough question. Not to put you off, but I’ve grown out of the ‘_ love ‘em and leave ‘em _’ stage of life. Ideally, I’d like to look for something a bit more solid (after we get a chance to get to know each other and see if that’s on that cards in the first place, of course)_

Theseus’ heart, honest to god, fluttered at the thought of it.

He bit his lip, torn as his self-induced misgivings from earlier battled for dominance with his renewed sense of attraction for the man, and desire for what he could potentially offer.

His phone buzzed again and the message that flashed up on its cracked screen sent a jolt of panic shooting straight through him - cutting right through the _‘Should he? Shouldn’t he?’_ bullshit.

_That wasn’t what you had in mind?_

He snatched up his mobile hastily, poised to respond only to find himself hesitating _again_.

What was he doing? This was Newt’s teacher. This was a guy that had his shit together. A, by all accounts and appearances, sweet, sheltered, primary school teacher who wanted a relationship and didn’t necessarily know what he was getting into by texting a guy like Theseus.

And yet when his eyes strayed to Percival’s message, his heart clenched at the thought of abandoning this opportunity before he’d even given it a chance.

Groaning softly he squeezed his eyes shut, shifting restlessly on the spot.

It was just a date.

It could get messy.

He was Newt’s teacher.

Newt was okay with it. He’d given his blessing.

Newt was 10 years old!

It would be nice… to go out with someone _nice_ for once.

… Fuck it.

 _No, it is. Definitely. Just wanted to check -_ he replied hastily, hesitating just another moment before adding, _It’s just - I’ve grown out of the ‘_ smash and dash' _stage as well_

Well that was that then. He’d put himself out there. The ball was in Graves’ court.

He put his mobile down and again scrubbed roughly at his face, then raked his fingers restlessly through his hair, ruining whatever style that had managed to hold to the end of the day.

Really,  it didn’t. Mean. Anything. He was most likely making a _huuuuuge_ deal out of nothing. There was _nothing_ to be anxious about, or excited for. He’d met the man _once_ , when he’d come out to tell him to piss off because he was scaring the kids.

Frankly the more he thought about it the more irrational all of this seemed. So really, if he turned around and said-

His phone buzzed and immediately his internal preparations for a let-down gave way to nervous anticipation.

_That’s a relief. I’ve been thinking about you all afternoon and I would have been very disappointed if we didn’t end up having our coffee date after all._

Before he could stop it, a flustered snort of laughter bubbled up at the comment. His cheeks flushed too at the thought of someone as handsome and all around put-together as Graves thinking about _him_ all afternoon.

Oh god, he was in deep already. And he didn’t care nearly as much as he probably should.

With a renewed thrill of confidence and an internal declaration of ‘ _Get in there son’_ he replied.

_Bloody smooth talker you are, eh?_

_That’s what I’ve been told_

_Cheeky too. Very interesting. So, when do you wanna do this coffee date (how bloody middle class are you btw?)_

_Are you free tomorrow? (And you’d be surprised)._

“Why are you laughing?!” Newt asked.

“I’m not laughing,” Theseus called back as he quickly scanned through his calendar to check he didn’t have any clients booked in for the next day. “Why aren’t you doing your maths?”

“You _are_ laughing,” Newt argued. “You’re not picking on Jeremy again, are you?”

“I’m not picking on your bloody pigeon,” Theseus groaned, shooting a dirty look at the pigeon/parrot in question and promptly receiving a croaky ‘ _Do one_!” in response. 

He sniffed.

“If I was, he’d bloody deserve it though.”

“Theseeeeeus.”

“Newt, I swear to god I’ll keep you at that table until you finish your work. And we both know I can stay awake longer than you.”

“I’m doing it, I’m doing it,” Newt grumbled.

Theseus peaked around the corner, smirking when he spotted his brother grumpily working on his maths, two dogs at his feet and three cats lounged across the table around him.

Shaking his head he turned his attention back to his mobile.

_Tomorrow’s good. Any place in mind?_

_Manhattan Mocha? By Hyde Park?_

_Sure. 10 o’clock good with you?_

_Perfect. I’ll see you there_

_Definitely_

Theseus bit his lip, before adding - _Have a good night_

A warm smile slowly spread across his face when, a moment later, Graves sent through a reply.

_You too, Theseus._

Shaking his head he slipped his mobile into his pocket and let out a deep breath.

He had a date. With a nice, put together, mature, homely sort and he wasn’t going to worry about this. He wasn’t going to be nervous. He wasn’t going to overthink it. He was going to enjoy it and live in the moment and practice what he preached for once.

“Theseus, can we get ice-cream when Tina stays over tomorrow?”

 _Fuck_.

 

            

 

This was not how he’d wanted his first date with Newt’s sexy teacher to go.

“But why can’t we have hotdogs?”

“Because it’s 9 o’clock in the morning and hotdogs are lunch food,” he groaned as he, Newt, and Tina made their way out of the tube station and towards Hyde Park.

“It’s pretty much 10,” Newt, the slimy little lovesick weasel, retorted. “And _you_ said that food is food and only toffs put stupid rules on those sorts of things.”

“Yes well I’m older and wiser now. 9 o’clock is way too early.”

“It’s 10 o’clock and you said that last week.”

“For christ sake, I will get you hot dogs for _lunch,”_ Theseus groaned. “Look - can we just, for the next hour or so, _pretend_ to be civilised folk.”

“Theseus, it’s just Mr Graves,” Tina urged, patting his hand as Newt nodded firmly beside her. “Everything will be _fine_.”

Mother of god he was being coddled by 10 year olds.

Drawing in a deep, calming breath and summoning his cockiest of smiles, he stopped walking and crouched down before the kids, giving both of their bony little shoulders a gentle squeeze.

“I know,” he said. “I’m fine. I just need the two of you to behave, yeah? Make me look good. You can do that, right?”

“Of course,” Tina replied, nodding.

“We always behave,” Newt agreed.

Theseus scoffed.

“Like the zoo?”

”…We agreed not to speak about the zoo,” Newt muttered as Tina suddenly became very interested with a mark on the pavement.

Theseus laughed and patted both their shoulder’s again.

“Yeah I know. Still.”

“We’ll be good.”

“The best.”

“I trust you,” Theseus replied, smiling at them before getting back to his feet. “Come on, we’re gonna be late.”

And they were off again.

He sighed. He’d try to back out of it, but Percival had been fine with the kids tagging along and if he pressed the matter he’d have looked like he was trying to get out of the date. Queenie and Jacob insisted that it would work out fine, once he’d finally gotten through to them that no, they weren’t paying someone to look after Tina _and_ Newt just cos he was a dopey bastard and forgotten he’d already agreed to babysit for their anniversary when he arranged the date.

“He’s a teacher, pal. He clearly doesn’t mind kids,” Jacob had said.

“You’ll look like Mr. Mom,” Queenie added.

“I don’t want to look like Mr. Mum, I want to look like Mr.  _Let’s-Shag-All-Night_."

“Oh honey, do you seriously think mom’s don’t _get some_ all night long?”

“Nooooo! Queenie whyyy! I have a visual mind I don’t- ugh! It’s in my head now! It’s in my head!”

“How do you think they get to be moms?”

Pretty much the universe was conspiring to not just cockblock him, but actively discourage him from taking this new, mature step in his life. Seriously, arseholes he can pick out from a crowd with no hint of divine intervention. The first guy in ages who actually seemed to have his head screwed on properly though - fate has his little brother and mate’s kids tag along for the ride. Perhaps it was a sign.

All in all he was feeling quite bitter and hard-done-by by the whole affair.

And yet when he spotted Percival leaning against a bench, waiting for them outside of the coffee shop, his stomach still fluttered with nervous anticipation.

It must have shown too because Tina promptly patted his hand and whispered, “Don’t be nervous,” as Newt rubbed his back.

“Guys!’

Percival looked up and smiled when he spotted them, pulling out his earphones and walking over.

Theseus drew in a deep breath and pulled on his most charming smile, nodding politely as the man approached.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” Percival replied with a smile of his own. “I’m glad you came,” he said, before turning to the kids.  “Hey Newt. Hey Tina.”

“Good morning Mr Graves,” the pair of them chorused.

It had been a _long_ time since Theseus had found himself on the receiving end of a case of butterflies in the stomach - but as his eyes raked over the man in front of him that sure as hell changed. He looked absolutely gorgeous - a bit more on the casual side than he had been the other day, replacing his waistcoat with a jumper and pressed trousers for dark jeans, but still - stunning.

Theseus drew in a deep breath, summoning all the courage and sense of self control that he could muster. He could get through this.

Percival glanced up from his chat with the kids and shot him a warm smile, nodding over to the little cafe.

“So, coffee?” he asked.

...He was fucking doomed.

He smiled all the same and nodded.

“Sure,” he replied. “Let’s do it.”

Percival hummed.

“Let’s get it to go. I’m sure these two would prefer to go to the park than sit around a coffee shop all morning,” he replied.

Theseus scoffed softly as a pair of hushed ‘ _Yessss’_ s hissed from behind him.

“I’d say that’s a yes,” he replied, before following Percival over to the shop, the corner of his lip twitching upwards as the other man held the door open for him.

“Cheers,” he muttered before walking inside and turning to the kids. “You guys want something? Hot chocolate? Tea? The - little kid coffees? Babyccinos?” He pulled a face. “Can’t believe I just said that.”

“Hot chocolate please,” Newt replied, giggling when Tina whispered, “We should get the babyccinos so he has to say it again.”

Theseus sniffed, gave her a quick ‘I’m watching you’ gesture (which brought on another round of giggles) and ushered them over to a bench out of people’s way. Once they were occupied going through youtube on his phone he turned back to Percival who was watching the whole display with an amused smile.

“You’re good with kids,” he observed as they both joined the small queue.

Theseus shrugged.

“I’m told it’s because we’re on the same wavelength,” he replied, shooting the other man a quick grin which widened when it drew an amused huff of laughter from him. “So,” he said. “What would you like? It’s my shout.”

Percival’s brows shot up at that.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, well… I sorta made this a double date - so least I can do really,” he replied, before adding with a wink, “You can get them next time.”

Percival scoffed softly, a small smile still playing on his lips as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his coat.

“Well in that case, I’ll have a Red Eye, thank you.”

Theseus pulled a face at the request.

“Late night?” he asked, arching his brow.

“I’ve built up a tolerance over the years,” Percival replied with a shrug, before smirking and adding dryly. “Need a little extra to get the same buzz as before.”

Theseus grinned and nodded along.

“Gotcha,” he drawled, before nodding over to the counter. “Want me to ask them for some grounds to rub into your gums while you wait?” he teased.

“I don’t think I’m that far gone just yet,” Percival laughed. “The fumes will get me by.”

Theseus let out another surprised laugh as they approached the counter. He was starting to think he may have slightly misjudged this one.

“Good morning, Percival. You’re running a bit late today” the lady behind the counter greeted them, a warm smile spread across her face as she looked to the other man. Of course it faltered a little when she turned to _him_ , but Theseus was more or less used to that, even if it did sting a little.

He smiled politely all the same as Percival chuckled.

“Going off schedule today, Mrs Murphy,” he replied with a shrug. “Change is the spice of life, yes?”

“It is indeed, darling,” the lady, Mrs Murphy, replied in a rather deliberate way. “So you’ll be getting a nice tea then?”

“Well… one doesn’t want life to become too spicy,” Percival replied, shrugging.

Theseus arched his brow as the woman behind the counter clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“You’re going to do yourself damage,” she scolded but wrote down the order for a large Red Eye coffee all the same before turning back to Theseus. “Will you be ordering together?” she asked with a polite smile of his own.

“Yes, thank you,” he replied, nodding. “Can we also get 2 regular hot chocolates with marshmallows in it. And a cappuccino with marshmallows as well.”

Mrs Murphy’s brows crept up her forehead at his order and when he turned to check if Percival wanted anything else he found him looking equally perplexed, if somewhat more amused.

“What?” he said as the woman bustled away.

Percival chuckled and shook his head.

“You take Marshmallows with you coffee?”

“You don’t?” Theseus drawled, lifting his brow in turn.

“Well, I’m not 12.”

“I know a good thing when I come across it,” he replied with a shrug, refusing to feel the least bit self-conscious about his choice. “Trust me, mate, I’ve had the piss taken out of me by a whole shop full of tattoo artists about it - you’re not gonna get anywhere with this one.”

Percival laughed and held up his hands.

“I’m not judging,” he said.

“You are a bit,” Theseus replied, an amused grin on his face - which Percival promptly returned.

“A bit. But I can respect a man who knows what he likes,” he replied simply, and somehow that was what got Theseus’ cheeks heating up.

Fortunately, by then Percival’s attention had turned to Newt and Tina, who regaled the both of them with their plans for the weekend as they waited for their order. 10 minutes later they were all armed with beverages and making their way to the playground.

“You live around here?” Theseus asked, taking a sip of his coffee as they strolled through Hyde Park.

Percival nodded.

“Not too far away,” he replied. “It’s a lovely area.”

Theseus hummed and took another small sip of his coffee - trying to ignore the fresh flutter of unease this new information inspired. Hogwarts paid well, but to live in an area like this - Percival had to be _really_ well off. Far better than Theseus was at least. He wondered if the other man was aware of that - or if he just assumed that they had money too because of Newt’s enrollment at such a posh school.

When he glanced up and found Percival looking his way. He quickly shot him a, cheeky grin and took another sip of his coffee, hoping he’d not press the subject.

“It was a bit of an indulgence really,” the other man confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. “More than a bit actually. But I’d been living in tents for years when I finally rocked up here and… well.” he shrugged again.

Theseus arched his brow at that.

“Tents?” he said skeptically. “You go backpacking or something?”

“Sort of like that,” Percival replied with an amused grin, before tapping his heavy brow in something reminiscent to a mock salute. “ _Former_ Captain Graves of the US Army, at your service.”

Theseus blinked, his own brows shooting up at the revelation.

“Piss off,” he uttered, struck once again by the realisation that he may have misjudged the man. _Considerably_. “You were in the army?”

Percival hummed, though Theseus noticed the quick look the other man shot him. For the first time all morning he seemed almost a little wary - and that did not sit well with Theseus in the slightest.

“I was,” Percival eventually replied, his tone careful, cautious in a way that made Theseus’ chest squeeze a little. “That an issue?”

“No,” he replied slowly, his brows furrowing with confusion and no small amount of concern. “Should it be?”

“I don’t think so. Though it has been in the past so… it’s hard to tell,” Percival replied with a shrug.

Theseus bristled indignantly on the other man’s behalf, anger bubbling up at the thought.

“You’re kidding,” he fumed.

Percival shrugged again.

“I’ve had a few colourful comments thrown my way,” he drawled, a self-depreciating smile spread across his face. “Though the ones that become hyper interested in it are a bit of a handful as well to be honest.”

The corners of Theseus’ lips twitched slightly with amusement - but the indignation lingered all the same. Though it did ease somewhat when Percival laughed softly and patted his arm.

“Stop frowning, it’s fine.”

“It’s not,” Theseus replied, before letting out a deep breath and making himself relax. “But yeah - no issues here. I was gonna enlist myself actually, but things just got in the way.”

Percival smiled a little at that and gave a nod, some of the tension easing from his shoulders.

Theseus grinned apologetically and ran a hand through his hair.

“I just meant you wouldn’t know from looking at you.”

The corner of Percival’s lips twitched some more, though the tension fortunately continued to fade away.

“It’s the sweaters, isn’t it?” he laughed, running his fingers through his hair.

“Little bit,” Theseus scoffed. “Glasses don’t help either. It gives you that bookworm vibe.”

“Well I’ve always been a bookworm,” Percival replied with a shrug, smiling as they arrived at the park.

“That I’ve got no trouble believing,” Theseus replied with a grin of his own.

Newt and Tina had already finished their hot chocolates and were squirming to get onto the playground equipment - but stilled all the same when Theseus cleared his throat.

“Right - you two,” he drawled, folding his arms over his chest and lifting his brow at the both of them. “Remember what we talked about. Good behaviour. No incidents today. We don’t want a repeat of _the zoo_.”

“You said-”

“Be gone.”

Newt huffed, but before he could get too worked up about the matter Tina had grabbed his hand and the next second the both of them were off, barrelling towards the play equipment.

“Do I want to know what happened at the zoo?” an amused voice asked from behind him.

Theseus huffed a laugh as the both of them made their way over to a free bench.

“I took them both, about a year back. Newt loves animals - I thought it was a safe bet,” he said with a long-suffering sigh, stepping up onto the bench of the nearest picnic table and sitting down on the table top as he did. He smirked over the rim of his cup of coffee when Percival followed his lead. “Then the pair of them went and decided to try and liberate the entire petting zoo halfway into the trip. Newt had a bunny stuffed down his jumper, Tina had her pockets stuffed with chicks. When I caught them they were trying to coax a baby goat into Newt’s backpack.”

Percival laughed, a wide smile spreading across his face.

“It sounds like quite the spectacle,” he chuckled.

“Definitely something that’s funny to look back on but wasn’t so much at the time,” Theseus replied with a grin of his own. “Almost got done for grand theft.”

“The headlines for that would have certainly been interesting,” Percival chuckled.

Theseus snorted at that, before sweeping his hand through the air and musing outloud, “' _They’ve Taken the Farm’_ works I think.”

He smiled a little wider when Percival laughed again, his shoulders shaking as he tried to keep quiet.

So far so good.

“So, you look after Newt a lot?” Percival asked, and Theseus could quite literally have kicked himself. He’d spoken too bloody soon.

He drew in a deep breath and shrugged. If the army was a contentious date-subject for Percival then _Newt_ was for him. It was a razor edge in which potential partners either earned themselves considerably more interest from him, or, far more often, lost all of it. And though he doubted Percival was going to solidly fall into the latter category, the risk of everything being spoiled so early was far from pleasant.

But the question had been asked and, he supposed, it was probably better to get it out of the way one way or the other. So after pulling on a teasing grin, he leaned forward and drawled conspiratorially, “Well I’m his legal guardian. Sorta comes with the territory.”

Percival blinked.

“I wasn’t aware,” he replied, frowning. “Your parents?”

“Dead. 5 years back,” Theseus replied simply, shrugging as he took another drink of his coffee. He’d learned by now that it was better to just be blunt about all of this. “Car accident.”

Percival grimaced, shaking his head as he set his cup down and turned so he was looking at Theseus properly.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s never easy.”

“Thanks, but we make do,” Theseus replied with a shrug, before shooting the other man a quick grin in hopes of moving the conversation along.

Percival seemed to get the message, nodding once before turning to cast his gaze over the park instead, only to frown a moment later when a thought seemed to strike him.

“Who’s the lady that picks him up from school though?” he asked.

Theseus scoffed, an amused grin tugging at his lips.

“Don’t miss a thing, do you?” he said. “That would be Queenie. Tina’s sister. Tina’s a bit sporty - lots of afternoon practices - so you’ve probably only seen her pick up Newt.”

“Probably,” Percival hummed, nodding his head.

Theseus smiled and shifted back so he was completely sitting on the table, folding his legs in front of him as he sipped at his coffee.

“They’ve been mates of ours for a while,” he explained. “Queenie’s fella owns the bakery across the street from the shop I work at. She helps out a lot, because my hours can be a bit crap sometimes. I step in when the two of them need a bit of time to themselves or they need help with anything. They’ve got a similar situation to ours going on with Tina. We all make it work.”

Percival hummed again, though when Theseus looked over at him he couldn’t help but grimace when he spotted the sympathetic expression on the man’s face.

“Ah, don’t look at me like that, man,” he groaned. “Save your pity for Newt. He’s the sorry bugger that got stuck with me as a pseudo-parent.”

“Your brother adores you,” Percival argued, shaking his head. “And I’m not pitying you. I’m admiring what you’ve accomplished.”

Theseus cleared his throat uncomfortably and stared down into what was left of his coffee instead of meeting the other’s man’s eye.

“It’s not exactly an accomplishment,” he muttered. “What was I gonna do - stand back and let the poor kid get put into care?”

“Plenty of people would have,” Percival replied with a shrug - though when Theseus looked he found Percival staring down at the half empty cup of coffee in his hands, an almost tired expression on his face. He frowned. But before he could enquire into it, the other man looked up, smiling warmly when he caught Theseus’ eye.

“Even  if you don’t think what you’re doing is special, it really is,” he said, reaching over to squeeze Theseus’ shoulder gently. “And you’re clearly doing a great job. Newt’s a wonderful kid. He’s a credit to you.”

“Thanks,” Theseus uttered, rubbing the back of his neck before turning away to look out at the park instead. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly when he spotted his brother pelting around the playground with Tina, both of their arms spread wide like they were soaring through the air instead of running upon the ground. A warm glow flared inside him at both the sight and Percival’s words. Very few people had told him he was doing a good thing for Newt by taking him in. Scores more had insisted his selfishness would harm his brother in the end instead. And in spite of barely knowing the man, he couldn’t help but feel relieved that Percival didn’t hold that opinion, that he hadn’t acted like Newt was a drain, or been disappointed he was _‘stuck with a kid’._

He looked back over to the man, the corner of his mouth quirking a little higher as he did.

“Thank you,” he said again. “That means a lot.”

Percival smiled and squeezed his shoulder again before withdrawing his hand.

“Just speaking the truth, Theseus,” he replied simply.

A silence fell - heavy, but somehow comfortable.

The date wasn’t going how he had expected it to. He was not being nearly as charming as he would normally try to be, and he was revealing considerably more about himself than he ordinarily would (it didn’t help that Percival was asking a fair bit more about him than most of his other dates did). Yet in spite of the foreignness of it all Theseus found he didn’t mind the change. Indeed… it seemed to be going well.

Still - a mood-lightener couldn’t hurt.

So sitting up a bit straighter and shifting so he was facing Percival before piping, “Right - _dating questions._ ”

The other man smiled a little wider, a hint of mischief (which was far sexier than it ought to have been) coming to life on his face as he shifted to better look at him as well.

“Oh?” he drawled. “Alright then, shoot.”

Theseus grinned, tapping his lip thoughtfully for a moment before clicking his fingers and asking,  “Favourite colour?”

It managed to startle a quiet laugh out of Percival, who shot him an exceedingly amused grin over the rim of his coffee before shrugging.

“Blue I suppose. Though black and grey is my go-to clothing-wise.”

Theseus nodded.

“Wise choice.”

“You?”

“Red, definitely,” he replied, nodding to himself. “But dark red. Like wine or blood - none of that cherry shit.”

“Perish the thought,” Percival laughed. “Hobbies?”

Theseus shrugged.

“I’d say art but that’s sort of my job. Other than that, I dunno - watching movies. Hanging out with Newt. Listening to music. The usual,” he replied, before grimacing. “That makes me sound proper dull, doesn’t it?”

“Not at all,” Percival chuckled. “I’m much the same. Throw in some reading of course. And my boxing.”

Theseus blinked.

“Boxing?” he echoed, his brows shooting high. “You’re a boxer.”

Percival nodded.

“Since I was a kid,” he replied. “I don’t really do fights anymore. Getting a bit old and slow for that now. But the training’s good for stress and it helps me stay fit enough keep up with the kids.”

Theseus shook his head in disbelief, his cheeks warming somewhat as his mind, which was visual by nature, conjured up some truly delightful images of just what Percival boxing might look like.

“I’d not have picked it.”

“The glasses right?”

“You’re like fucking Clark Kent.”

“I was shooting for Bruce Wayne, but I’ll take it,” Percival laughed, shaking his head. “You don’t fight?”

Theseus cleared his throat quickly.

“Me? Of course,” he replied, before scoffing and shrugging. “Well, not officially… not so much anymore. But I can hold my own.”

Percival smirked, nudging his arm.

“You should come down to the gym then. I’ll put you through your paces.”

Theseus bit his lip at the thought. Imagination, after all, could only satisfy so much - but seeing it in the flesh!

“You don’t have to, of course,” Percival said, a teasing smirk tugging at his lips. “If you’re scared.”

Theseus bristled indignantly at the thought - but could tell when he was being wound up deliberately. Smirking he leaned a little closer to Percival, his arms resting on top of his crossed legs, before retorting, “Big talk for someone who’s not fought in years.”

“I reckon I can handle someone who _doesn’t fight anymore_.”

“Oh, it’s on then,” Theseus laughed, clapping his hands together. “Text me the time and place and I’ll be there.”

“I’ll have the ice packs ready for your bruised ego,” Percival replied with a downright shit-eating grin.

“Now you see - I was gonna go easy on you cos I like you. But now - you’re gonna get it,” Theseus retorted.

“Can’t wait,” Percival replied, a wide smile spreading over his face as a laugh bubbled out of Theseus.

“It’s a date then,” Theseus replied, winking at the other man before rocking back once again.

“Oh I reckon I can take you better places than the gym for our next date,” Percival replied blithely, cocking his head to the side as he took as sip of his coffee and seemed to revel in the deep shade of red that Theseus’ face promptly flushed.

“Bloody smoothe talker you are,” Theseus uttered for the second time in as many days, rubbing the back of his neck as he finished off his own drink. “So come on them, you got any other aces up your sleeve? You a secret cage fighter as well or something?”

“Oh I think I’m a bit too long in the tooth to be getting into all of that,” Percival replied, a warm smile spread across his face all the while. “I don’t know what you’d consider an ace up my sleeve. I was born in New York. I grew up there. My father was a police officer, from a long line of police officers. I was going to follow his lead, but after the army… I didn’t have it in me anymore.”

“Needed something a bit more quiet?” Theseus asked, cocking his head to the said.

Percival hummed, nodding. This time it was him who looked away. Again, the topic seemed to be making him uncomfortable and that thought in turn didn’t sit well with Theseus. The experience had clearly taken a hell of a lot out of the other man - and even though he’d practically just met him, Theseus found himself wanting to fix it, make it better somehow. He didn’t like seeing anyone miserable - but he couldn’t help but feel more affected seeing Percival like that.

So he smiled softly and gently nudged the other man’s arm, before teasingly drawling, “And you decided working with a mob of kids was the right way to go about that? Silly bugger you are.”

Percival huffed a soft laugh in response, though Theseus spotted the tension slowly easing away from him once again all the same.

“Perhaps,” he chuckled, shrugging. “They’re not that bad.”

“I can barely handle one.”

“Yes but the superpowers of being ‘the teacher’ help _a lot_ ,” Percival chuckled rather bashfully

“I bet they do, you cheat,” Theseus grinned, bumping his fist fondly against Percival’s arm again before pulling away.

Percival turned back to him, smiling warmly and Theseus’ heart soared at the sight. Bloody hell he was falling for this guy _way_ too fast.

He blinked when Percival stretched his arms over his head and leaned back a little himself.

“Alright - so I reckon it’s your turn now,” he announced, the corner of his lips quirking upwards as he cocked his head to the side. “Tell me about yourself, Theseus.”

“Ah,” Theseus scoffed, ducking his head as an amused grin spread across his face (and to hide the shiver that hearing his name coming out of Percival’s mouth inspired). “Well, I’m a tattoo artist. Finished my apprenticeship a little over a year ago. I  do mostly black and grey work - but I can do anything really. I moved to London when I was about 16. And thanks to Newt my flat’s infested with animals.”

“Oh?” Percival laughed. “What you got at the moment?”

Theseus puffed out his cheeks as he thought about it, before sighing, “2 dogs, One’s mine, one came with Newt. 3 cats. He keeps finding them by the bins. I’m not convinced they’re not spreading the word somehow. 3 rats - I was in Paris for a convention and came back to Newt on his high horse about them being snake food and 3 literal rats scampering over my sofa.”

“Tell me you called them Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.”

“Well, that’s what _I_ call them.”

“Brilliant.”

Theseus huffed a laugh before carrying on. “Newt’s turtle from home. A hedgehog he spotted in the markets and insisted was being mistreated. I mean… she was in a tiny freaking cage and had sores or over her so I sorta back him on that. And a parrot that we took off our batty old aunt’s hands when she went to live in a home. Bloody thing’s learned how to speak by watching Jeremy Kyle re-runs.”

Percival snorted into his coffee at that.

“You’re kidding?”

“I get told to ‘ _Do One’_ and that I’ve ' _failed every single question’_ every bloody morning.”

Percival laughed again, a wide grin spreading across his face.

“But that’s all of them - as of last count,” Theseus said, shaking his head in despair at the thought of _the zoo_. “Give it a week and Newt will have found something else to rescue.”

“He’s got you wrapped right around his little finger, doesn’t he?” Percival teased, though his smile was warm, fond even, in a way that made Theseus cheeks heat up once again.

Huffing a soft laugh he shrugged once more.

“Guess so,” he replied, grinning bashfully.

“At least you’re never lonely,” Percival chuckled, nudging his arm.

“True. Alone time is in short supply in the Scamander Residence,” Theseus chuckled. “I dunno what else to say. Should probably make some shit up - I’m sounding proper dull compared to you, bloody renaissance man.”

“No you’re not,” Percival scoffed, finally setting his coffee aside. “You said you wanted to join the army?” he prompted, folding his arms over his legs.

Theseus hummed.

“Yeah, I was gonna join a few years back,” he replied with a nod. “It’s a bit like you with your dad’s side. All the men in my family have been in the military. It was sort of expected that I enlist. Pretty much as soon as possible really. Sorta like… family ordered conscription.” He sighed, his shoulders heaving as he shrugged. “I wanted to do it but the expectation of it all sorta got to me. And, well, I wasn’t a great kid towards the end. Screwed around in school, got in fights, ran off to London as soon as I could to _find myself_. I just kept putting it off.”

He grimaced.

“It upset my parents. We weren’t exactly on great terms at the time, them and me. When I finally sorted myself out, I figured it could be like my olive branch. You know, hey, look - I’m not a complete fuck up.”

Percival sighed deeply, resting his hand on Theseus knee, and Theseus found himself not wanting to push it away.

“Then the accident happened?” he asked.

Theseus hummed, nodding.

“I’d actually started the process. I was doing the tests - physicals and shit, doing interviews with people. Then, I got a phone call from social services and my priorities shifted considerably,” he replied. “Newt needed someone to look after him and it was either me or our aunt who, frankly, needed someone to look after her at that point as well, bless her. I’d not signed anything yet so I pulled out of the recruitment and focused on getting custody of the little guy instead.”

Percival hummed, squeezing Theseus’ knee gently.

I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Theseus smiled and shook his head.

“Not your fault, mate,” he replied simply. “And it worked out in the end. They eventually decided I probably wouldn’t kill Newt by mistake somehow and let me take care of him. I actually like my job. It wasn’t exactly the plan but it could be much worse.”

“Definitely,” Percival replied, nodding firmly. “You stepped up, to a pretty huge responsibility as well. Like I said before, not everyone would have done it, and certainly not everyone would have fought for it like you clearly had to. It may not be keeping with the family tradition, and believe me, I understand that _that_ can weigh on your conscience far more than it ought to - but what you’re doing for your brother, that’s truly something to be proud of.”

Theseus opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Once again, and far more so than before, he found himself lost for words, and touched beyond them, by what the other man had to say. He was right, after all. There was no denying that he did feel guilty, for not following through with the army thing - not doing it sooner and making his parents proud when they were alive to see it rather than having them dying disappointed in the man he’d turned out to be. Not that he ever had or would regret forsaking that path for raising Newt, of course. But having that guilt recognised by someone who legitimately seemed to understand it, it affected him far more than he thought it would.

The hand on his knee tightened a fraction once again as Percival shifted closer, a concerned frown creasing his thick brows.

“I’m sorry. Was that out of line?” he asked, a note of worry and, possibly, guilt in his voice.

Theseus rested his hand on top of the other man’s and squeezed it back, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards in a small but genuine smile.

“Nah, you’re good,” he replied, shaking his head. “Just… thanks. That’s… good of you to say.”

He drew in a deep (somewhat shuddering breath) as he sat up a little straighter and announced cheerily, “I can speak 3 languages.”

“Can you?” Percival asked, brows shooting up. He pulled his hand away but he didn’t move back to where he’d been sitting before, remaining instead close enough to Theseus that their shoulders brushed against one another. “Which ones?”

“Well, English first of all. Practically fluent in that one,” Theseus replied, nodding seriously. The corners of his lips curled when he spotted the amused grin that had spread across Percival’s face. “Then there’s latin. Of the swine variety.”

“At-thay o-say?” Percival drawled, drawing a wide grin from Theseus.

“Oh es-yay. Uently-flay.”

Perciful laughed and bumped his shoulder against Theseus before drawling, “And the third?”

“Cockney rhyming slang is practically a language of its own, isn’t it?”

“Ought to be,” Percival scoffed. “A dialect at leas-” he trailed off, tracking something on the playground instead.

Theseus had seen it too. Newt was streaking across the playground, Tina on his heels - and that was rarely ever a good sign.

Sure enough when he twisted around to get a proper look he spotted the two of them launching themselves at a group of boys who had gathered by the base of a large tree for some reason. Theseus was inclined to suspect it was nothing good. Newt didn’t pick fights the fun of it, after all.

He looked around quickly, hoping that one of the little brats parents would step in and break it all up. But even as the scuffle got more heated they all seemed content talking among themselves in their little clans. _He_ was going to have to act, and that rarely ever ended well either. Still, when he spotted Tina tumbling out of the fray only to urgently attempt to launch herself straight back into it, he knew he didn’t have much of a choice.

Only, just as he was rising to his feet to act, his attention, along with practically everyone else’, was caught by a loud, sharp whistle cutting through the air as effectively as the crack of a gun. When he looked over to Percival the other man was pulling his fingers from between his lips, a stern, terrifyingly familiar expression on his face. In a second he’d transformed from his sexy date to every damn teacher he’d ever had his whole life.

And it seemed he wasn’t the only one who thought so, because by the time he wheeled back around to address the situation at hand he found the boys already bidding a hasty retreat, throwing wary looks in their direction (or rather, Percival’s). It would have been a gratifying sight if his attention did stray immediately to Newt curled up on the ground where they had been gathered.

Cursing softly, he grabbed his jacket and rushed over to his brother.

“Newt!” he gasped as he slid to a stop, crouching down beside his brother just as the boy lifted his head, looking around as if to scan for danger. He didn’t seem afraid however, or hurt - but rather determined.

Theseus groaned, and sure enough when the boy sat up it was with an exceedingly ruffled looking raven clutched to his chest.

“Newt-”

“They were throwing rocks at her and knocked her out of the tree,” Newt said, frowning as he carefully inspected the bird (which seemed a bit stunned by its whole ordeal) for injury. “I think she’s hurt her wing.”

Theseus grit his teeth and brushed his thumb over the forming bruise on his brother’s cheek. He looked over to Tina, who was lingering my Percival’s side, relieved to find her a bit more ruffled than usual but otherwise unmarked. Turning back to his brother he let out an annoyed breath through his teeth.

“Fuck sake, Newt.”

“Swear jar.”

“Do you think now’s the time to get cheeky with me, Newton? Really.”

“Why are you cross?”

“Newt, there was seven of them, at least, against the two of you. What have I told you about getting in over your head?”

“They were throwing rocks at her,” Newt argued. “And you were here. Nothing was going to happen.”

“Right, I was here. Why didn’t you come and get me to help?”

“Because you were on your date,” Newt sniffed. “And you get in trouble when you help.”

Theseus opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. He couldn’t deny that his brother had a point there.

“You get in trouble?” Percival asked, frowning.  

“You said it yourself, didn’t you. I tend to scare the kids,” Theseus replied simply. “People tend to get a bit antsy about people looking like me defusing these sorta situations.”

To illustrate his point, he nodded over at a gaggle of parents, presumably those of the boys’, standing at the other end of the playground and glaring at them all.

“Come on guys, we’d better get out of here,” he sighed, shaking his head. “We’ll bring Quoth with us?”

“Quoth?” Tina echoed, frowning as Newt carefully wrapped his scarf around the bird and cradled it to his chest.

 _“Quoth the Raven_ ,” Theseus replied with a shrug, smiling slightly when Percival scoffed. “You’ll get it in a few years and think I’m really witty.”

“Sure,” Tina drawled, smirking. “So what’s the plan?”

Theseus drew in a deep breath, puffing his cheeks out in thought.

“Well, guess we’re gonna have to find a rescue that’s open on Saturday’s and accepts Ravens,” he replied, rubbing the back of his head bashfully as he turned to Percival. “I’m sorry, this shaped up to be a bit of a mess of a date, eh?” he said apologetically.

“I enjoyed it,” Percival replied with a warm smile. “I can have coffee with anyone. Can’t say saving ravens has come up too many times in the past though.”

Theseus smiled.

“We can try for something a little more conventional next time,” Percival continued, nudging his shoulder affectionately.

“So… there’s gonna be a next time?” Theseus asked. He tried his best to keep his voice casual but even he couldn’t deny there was a note of hope to the question.

“I’d like there to be,” replied Percival, nodding. “I’ve got coffee to buy you, and a sport to introduce you to, don’t I? And a nice dinner in between.”

Theseus grinned and inclined his head.

“Sounds good to me,” he replied, a warm glow flaring up inside him at the thought of it all.

“...Don’t you think she looks more like a Dorothy though?”

“Fuck sake, Newt.”

“Swear jar.”

 


End file.
